How many years have you fished for stripers? How many nights a week? I have paid plenty of dues, and I killed my first two 50#'s without hesitation, less than 12 months apart to boot. Why? Because I spent soooo many nights and years looking for them, spending THOUSANDS of dollars on tackle, releasing THOUSANDS of the fish you like to take home for dinner. Personally, I dont eat em, so I throw back 95% of my bass catch yearly, the rest go to neighbors, freinds, and family who like to eat em, so my rationale is this:
Some people kill ducks. I dont
Some people like baseball. I dont.
Some people like broccoli. I dont.
You and many others eat bass. I dont.
Many people kill almost all they catch. I dont.
Some people throw back all their bass. I dont.
I killed 2 wonderful stripers over 50#, my right.
Cheers.
